Chapter 1: The New Guys

Elsewhere, at the Academy on Earth, things were slow, so the Junior Rescue Bots were hanging in the lounge. Medix and Wedge were arm wrestling while Brushfire, Sludge, Snarl, Slug, Swoop, and Slash spectated. It was an intense moment as the two bots struggled to overcome their opponent.

"Come on, Medix, you can do it!" said Brushfire.

"Yeah, put your servos into it!" added Slash.

"And concentrate on the moment, Medix!" finished Swoop. "Don't give up!"

While it was apparent who Brushfire, Slash, and Swoop were rooting for, I guess you don't need to be a rocket scientist to figure out who was rooting for Wedge.

"Go, Wedge, go! Go, Wedge, go! Go, Wedge, go!" Sludge, Snarl, and Slug chanted.

Just then, Hot Shot entered with his new Mini-Con dog companion, Fireplug, whom he had received as a Christmas present from Heatwave, Quickshadow, and the other Senior Rescue Bots for Christmas a few months prior. He was quick to notice the competition between Medix and Wedge.

"So...who's winning?" asked Hot Shot.

"I...am...not...sure." Medix strained. "I'm...giving it my all...but Wedge is...too...strong!"

Unfortunately, Medix would be proven right, because right at that moment, Wedge managed to force Medix's arm on the table. This was met by raucous cheering from Sludge, Snarl, and Slug.

"Oh well, I tried." Medix sighed as he rubbed his arm.

"Anyways, now that that's over, I've been teaching Fireplug some new tricks." Hot Shot then said. "Wanna see?"

"Sure." replied Wedge.

"Okay." said Hot Shot. "Ready, boy?"

Fireplug yapped happily, then Hot Shot walked the others through he tricks he had taught Fireplug to do, which were some pretty basic tricks; "Sit", "Roll over", and "Play dead". Everyone clapped and cheered about this.

"Good boy, Fireplug!" said Hot Shot. "Who's a good Mini-Con doggy? You are! Yes, you are!"

Hot Shot rubbed Fireplug's belly as he said this, and Fireplug took great pleasure in this. At that moment, Whirl entered with a huge smile on her face.

"Guess what, guys!" she grinned. "We have new students joining the Academy!"

That quickly got the others' attention.

"New students, eh?" asked Medix. "Nice."

"Yeah, and Heatwave says Optimus Prime will be here with them any minute!" added Whirl.

"Awesome!" said Hot Shot.

The others shared Hot Shot and Whirl's excitement and began chatting excitedly about the new arrivals. However, this was brought to an end by Hoist, who spoke up from another area of the lounge.

"Um, excuse me." he said. "A little quieter, please? Thank you."

Hoist then went back to what he was doing previously. The others were confused.

"What's Hoist up to?" asked Sludge.

"I dunno." said Slug.

"Whatever it is, I bet it's something awesome." replied Hot Shot. "Why don't we go see what it is?"

The others agreed, and they followed Hot Shot to find where Hoist was, and they found him at an easel that had a canvas mounted on it. Hoist also had a palette with some blobs of paint on them in one hand and a paintbrush in the other. Laserbeak was perced on a radio that was playing relaxing-sounding piano music on it while watching Hoist. It should go without saying that the others were surprised at this, although they could only see Hoist's back as he was working.

"Wow, Hoist, I didn't know you could paint." said Hot Shot.

"Boulder's been giving me pointers." Hoist replied, not making optic content. "I've also been watching painting tutorials on the internet, most of them from this guy with an afro named "Bob Ross"."

"Ooh, nice." said Whirl. "Say, can we see what you're working on?"

"Not yet." said Hoist. "But you don't have too much longer to wait. I just need to add a few more strokes and then I'll be done."

"Oh, okay." replied Whirl.

Soon, Hoist was finished.

"Okay, you can see it now." he announced.

Hoist stepped aside to give his friends a clear glimpse of his painting, which was one row of three Autobot insignias on top of another that were each a different color on a different background. The scheme was as follows, and I quote: on the top row, a red insignia on a blue background, a yellow insignia on a red background, and a blue insignia on a yellow background. The bottom row depicted a green insignia on an orange background, an orange insignia on a purple background, and a purple insignia on a green background.

"So, what do you think?" Hoist asked.

"That's amazing!" gasped Hot Shot.

"Yeah, I really like the colors you chose." added Whirl.

"Very impressive details." continued Medix. "Not to mention a very neat composition."

"You should really show that to Boulder." put in Wedge.

"Yeah, what Wedge said." Brushfire went on. "I bet he'll really like it, same with Heatwave and the others."

"Heck, maybe you could also show it to Optimus when he comes with the new students." finished Slash.

Laserbeak squawked in agreement.

"Thanks, guys." said Hoist.

Just then, Heatwave's voice came over the PA system.

"All bots to the Space Bridge." he said.

"Looks like that's our cue." said Hot Shot. "Come on, guys!"

With that, after Hoist took his painting off the easel, Hot Shot and his friends hurried to the Space Bridge, and soon met up with Heatwave and the other Senior Rescue Bots, who, like Brushfire had predicted, were really impressed with Hoist's painting, especially Boulder.

"You did a fine job, Hoist." he said. "Looks like all those pointers I gave you are really starting to pay off."

"Indeed." said Chase.

Just then, the Space Bridge portal opened, and out came Optimus Prime.

"Greetings, Rescue Bots." he said. "As you know, I have come here today with some new students who will be joining the Academy for a trial run."

"When are they gonna be here, Optimus?" asked Whirl excitedly.

"Very soon, Whirl." Optimus replied.

"While we're waiting, Optimus, can I show you something?" asked Hoist.

Optimus nodded, and Hoist showed the Autobot leader his painting, and when Optimus looked it over, he was very impressed with it.

"My word, Hoist, this is magnificent." he said. "I can tell you worked very hard on this."

"I sure did." agreed Hoist as he took his painting back.

Just then, the sound of someone coming through the Space Bridge was heard again.

"Is this the place, Optimus?" asked a young voice.

"Yes, it is." nodded Optimus.

The scene then showed three young Cybertronians. The first was black and dark green with wings that had fan-like attachments fitted into them and the Autobot insignia on the tips. He was accompanied by two almost identical twin bots. Although the two bots had the same body shape, one had a reddish-orange and black color scheme and the other had a blue and green color scheme. Both had Autobot symbols on their chests and shoulders and spoilers on their backs. All three of the bots had purple optics.

"Hello, everyone." said the first bot. "I'm Wrangle, and these are my best friends Blinker and Ripple."

"Hey there." said Blinker, the reddish-orange and black one.

"Hiya." added Ripple, the blue and green one.

"As I've said, these three will be here for a trial run." Optimus then said. "If they do well, they will stay. I would like you all to treat them kindly."

"Yes, sir!" said Hot Shot enthusiastically.

Optimus then looked at Wrangle and the twins.

"Good luck, you three." said Optimus. "I will be back to check on your progress."

And with that, Optimus walked back through the Space Bridge, and both Rescue Bot teams went around introducing themselves to the newcomers. Once introductions were made, they left to show the newcomers around the Academy. While the rest of the bots were pretty excited, Whirl was wrought with anxiety.

"Why did it have to be him of all other bots?" she worried to herself.

Hot Shot was quick to notice the worried look on his girlfriend's face.

"Whirl?" he asked. "Is something wrong?"

Whirl was caught off guard by this.

"What?" she asked. "Oh, no, nothing's wrong. I'm fine."

"Are you sure?" Hot Shot prodded. "If something is bothering you, don't hesitate to speak up."

"Um...I'll tell you later, okay?" replied Whirl.

"Uh...sure." Hot Shot replied reluctantly.

Right away, Hot Shot could tell something was wrong with Whirl.

"This isn't like her at all." he said to himself. "Usually, Whirl is so excited about new students joining the Academy, but not this time, it seems. What could possibly be wrong with her?"

End Of Chapter 1